Local business owner urges commissioners to let unincorporated El Paso County voters decide recreational marijuana

Jeff Fenson addressed the board during public comment on April 21, urging commissioners to "get out of the way" and place a ballot question letting unincorporated El Paso County voters decide whether to permit recreational cannabis.

Fenson, who said he opened the county’s first medical marijuana facility 16 years ago, argued that residents currently travel into Colorado Springs to buy legal recreational cannabis and that tax revenue from those sales supports services such as the Colorado Springs Fire Department. He cited a figure for Colorado Springs recreational cannabis receipts of about $3.8 million in 2025 (first three quarters) and said the city directed $1.3 million of marijuana tax revenue to restore a fire training academy that produced a class of 36 trainees.

"Putting a measure on the ballot is not an endorsement. It is not advocacy. It is democracy," Fenson said, asking the board to allow voters to decide and saying the county misses revenue otherwise kept by neighboring jurisdictions.

No commissioner moved to place a ballot question during the meeting, and the board took no formal action on the matter.